


XTreme Origami

by NellieOleson



Category: Stargate SG-1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3613716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NellieOleson/pseuds/NellieOleson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet for XTreme Origami prompt. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	XTreme Origami

Jack was in his backyard, making therapy birds, when Carter finally showed up. She walked around the deck and sat across from him without saying anything. He kept folding, waiting for her to open the conversation. Jack wasn’t in the mood for small talk. 

She watched him struggle through an entire bird before breaking the silence. Jack was glad. The only thing worse than awkward conversations was awkward silence.

“New hobby?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he said. “XTreme Origami.” His pile of paper cranes was small, and most of the birds looked like they suffered from painful disfigurements. Fine motor control was a thing of his past. 

Carter rubbed her hands on her thighs like she wasn’t sure what she should do with them. Jack’s hands had spent a lot of time in his pockets for the same reason. “What makes it XTreme?” she asked. She picked up a bird and examined it closely. “Shouldn’t you be making little cliff-divers?”

He tried to sound less bitter and angry than he felt. It was the first time Carter had come to see him since he’d been officially removed from the team, and he didn’t want to chase her away. Daniel had borne the brunt of his frustrations. Jack wondered if he’d let Carter know when it was safe to visit. 

“Oh, you know,” he said. “It’s XTreme because I’m doing it outside where it’s dangerous. You never know when the wind might pick up.” He swept a bird off of the table and into the grass. “I’m folding on the edge out here.”

Carter reached over and wrapped her hands around his fist. She tugged at his fingers until he relaxed and opened his hand. It started to tremble and he tried to pull it away. Fraiser had told him that was something that might go away with time and physical therapy. Jack wasn’t so sure. Carter kept his hand and ran her thumb over his palm until it stilled. “Better?” 

It was better, but short term better wasn’t what he was after. He wanted his life back. “It’s never going to be ‘better’, Carter.”

Carter had never been one for false platitudes. She just nodded and traced the scars on his forearm. The surgical scars were neat and orderly. The others much less so. He was probably lucky he still had both hands. He didn’t remember the explosion, but he did remember Carter and Teal’c dragging him to the gate. He’d gotten a brief glimpse of the gold metal shrapnel sticking out of his forearms before passing out. 

They sat in silence until fat raindrops started to land on the table. “See,” Jack said. “XTreme. You just never know what’s going to happen.”

Carter stood up and pulled him to his feet. She stood in front of him, somehow looking steady and nervous at the same time. Jack forgot to breathe when she stepped closer and ran her thumb over his bottom lip. “Yeah,” she agreed. “You really don’t.” 

The rain started falling like it meant business. Carter was still too close to him, staring at him like she was trying to read his mind. And maybe she could, because she picked his thoughts right out of his head. “This-” she paused, giving him time to absorb the gravity of ‘this’. “Isn’t because I feel sorry for you.” Her hand was at the back of his neck now, holding him in place. 

Carter was a horrible liar. He’d have known if she was lying before she started talking. Still, this new version of him wasn’t really what she’d signed up for. This thing between them, as much as they liked to deny it, was born and nurtured under circumstances they’d never experience again. “But what if I feel sorry for me?” 

She smiled at him in a way he didn’t understand before kissing him. Rain was running down the back of his neck, but Carter’s tongue was in his mouth. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Carter pulled away. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks were flushed. Jack had never wanted her more. “I don’t think that will be a problem,” she said. 

Jack wasn’t so sure about that. He could sulk with the best of them. He was about to say that when Carter took his hand again and started walking toward his house. Jack forgot all about feeling sorry for himself. He stopped at the sliding doors, trying to give her a chance to back out. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” She stared at her feet for a moment before continuing. “I thought you were going to die out there, Jack. And all I could think was-” She touched his face. “I don’t want to live with that kind of regret.”

She opened the door and stepped through. Jack followed and shut the door behind them.


End file.
